The shortest version is this: Red moves first, the players alternate one move at a time, and each move relocates one friendly piece. Landing on an enemy piece captures it. You may never leave your own general under attack. The objective is not to clear the board, but to leave the opposing general without a defense.
The board, river, and palaces
The board has nine vertical files and ten horizontal ranks, creating ninety intersections. Pieces sit on intersections, not inside squares. The open band across the middle is the river. It limits elephants and soldiers, while chariots, horses, cannons, generals, and advisors follow their own movement rules.
A 3×3 area marked with diagonals lies at the center of each back rank. These are the palaces. Red's general and advisors remain in the red palace; Black's general and advisors remain in the black palace.
How to set up the starting position
Red begins at the bottom and Black at the top. Each back rank reads chariot, horse, elephant, advisor, general, advisor, elephant, horse, chariot from left to right. The two cannons stand two ranks forward and one file in from each edge. Five soldiers occupy every other file on the next marked rank.
Red moves first. Standard play has no die roll, bid, or double move. After one move the turn passes, unless checkmate, stalemate, resignation, or a draw has already ended the game.
What makes a move legal
Every move must satisfy four conditions:
- The direction, distance, and region must match that piece's movement rule.
- The path must be clear wherever intervening pieces block movement.
- The destination cannot contain a friendly piece; an enemy there is captured according to the moving piece's rule.
- After the move, your general must be safe and the generals may not face each other on an otherwise empty file.
A piece may appear able to reach a point yet still have no legal move there. A chariot cannot leave if doing so exposes its general, and a horse cannot reach an open destination through an occupied horse leg.
How the general moves
The general moves one intersection horizontally or vertically, never diagonally, and remains inside its own palace. It may not enter attack or create an open-file confrontation with the opposing general.
The facing-generals rule is unique to xiangqi: if both generals occupy one file with no piece between them, the position is illegal. A sole intervening piece is pinned unless another blocker remains or its move immediately resolves the opposing general.
How advisors move
An advisor moves one point diagonally among the five reachable palace points. It cannot move orthogonally or leave the palace. Advisors block chariot and cannon lines, protect the general, and control critical palace points.
How elephants move
An elephant moves exactly two points diagonally. The intervening midpoint is its elephant eye; any piece there blocks the move. Elephants may not cross the river and remain on their own half.
An elephant captures by the same move. The target may contain an enemy, but the elephant must remain home, have a clear eye, and avoid exposing its own general.
How horses move and how the horse leg is blocked
A horse moves one point orthogonally and then one point diagonally outward. Unlike a knight in chess, it cannot jump over an occupied adjacent point. For either upward destination, inspect the point directly above; for either rightward destination, inspect the point directly right.
Do not inspect only the destination. Check the leg first, then the board edge and friendly occupancy, and finally whether moving the horse exposes your general.
How chariots move
A chariot travels any distance horizontally or vertically but cannot jump. It stops at the first piece: a friendly piece blocks it, while an enemy may be captured but not passed.
The common trap lies at the starting point. A chariot may be screening a cannon or chariot line, or preventing the generals from facing; inspect what its departure uncovers.
How cannons move and capture
Without capturing, a cannon moves like a chariot and cannot cross an intervening piece. To capture, it needs exactly one piece between itself and the target. That intervening piece is the cannon screen, and the cannon jumps it to capture the first enemy beyond.
The screen may belong to either side. Zero screens do not permit a capture; two or more also fail. The screen remains on the board—the target beyond it is removed.
How soldiers move
Red soldiers advance toward the top and Black soldiers toward the bottom. Before crossing the river they move one point forward. After crossing they may move one point forward or sideways, but never backward or diagonally.
Soldiers capture exactly as they move, unlike pawns in chess. Crossing the river adds two sideways directions but never increases the distance of one move.
Check, replies, and checkmate
A move gives check when the attacking side could capture the opposing general next. The checked side must remove the threat immediately and cannot first make an unrelated capture or continue another attack.
Replies fall into four groups:
- Move: take the general to a safe palace point.
- Capture: remove the checking piece.
- Interpose: insert a piece on a chariot, cannon, or facing-general line.
- Break the relation: remove a cannon screen or block the leg of a checking horse.
If the general remains attacked after the reply, that move is illegal. When every reply fails, checkmate ends the game immediately.
Stalemate is a loss
If a player has no legal move on their turn even though the general is not in check, that player loses by stalemate. This differs from chess, where stalemate is normally a draw.
How this site handles repetition, perpetual attacks, and draws
This site adjudicates repetitions automatically under Asian rules and does not separately implement every tournament category of “kill” and pending referee judgment. When the same position with the same side to move appears a third time, moves in the loop are classified as attacks if they check or chase an unprotected, non-equivalent piece; other moves are quiet.
If only one side made an attacking move on every turn of the loop, that side loses. This covers perpetual check and perpetual chase. If both sides attacked throughout, or either side included a quiet move, the game is drawn. Sixty full moves without a capture are a draw, as is a position where neither side has any chariot, horse, cannon, or soldier.
In online play, a draw offer ends the game when accepted. Resignation awards the game to the opponent. Finer exchange-value and referee examples from other competition codes are outside this site's automatic adjudication.
Common illegal moves
- Moving a horse to an L-shaped destination through an occupied horse leg.
- Moving an elephant through a blocked eye or across the river.
- Capturing with a cannon with no screen, more than one screen, or a target that is not the first enemy beyond the screen.
- Moving a general or advisor outside the palace, or moving a soldier backward or diagonally.
- Vacating a point that exposes your general to a chariot, cannon, or the opposing general.
- Answering check with a move that does not remove every attack on the general.
How to begin your first game
- Confirm Red is at the bottom, Black at the top, and Red moves first.
- Before selecting a piece, check whose turn it is and verify that piece's path.
- Before committing, ask whether your general remains safe and whether the generals would face.
- After the opponent moves, check for check and attacked pieces before making your own plan.
- When unsure about a horse leg, elephant eye, cannon screen, or palace, stop and consult the matching rule above.
Four checks before you move
- Start with general safety; in check, consider only legal replies.
- Verify the piece's movement, path, and destination, especially legs, eyes, and screens.
- Inspect the starting point for an exposed general, facing generals, or a newly loose piece.
- Give the opponent one move and look for an immediate check, major capture, or fork.
Frequently asked questions
Must a player announce check?
Saying “check” helps beginners in a friendly game, but legality does not depend on an announcement. Once the general is attacked, the checked side must answer and cannot continue elsewhere because no warning was spoken.
May I deliberately give up my general?
No. A move that leaves your general attacked, moves it into attack, or leaves the generals facing is illegal. Resignation ends the game; an illegal move cannot replace it.
Can a cannon use a friendly piece as its screen?
Yes. The screen may belong to either side, but exactly one piece must lie between cannon and target, and the target must be the first enemy beyond it.
How far may a soldier move sideways after crossing?
Still only one intersection per move. Crossing adds left and right as legal directions; it never permits a multi-point move or retreat.
Is having no legal move without check a draw?
No. In xiangqi, the immobilized side loses by stalemate. This site ends the game accordingly.
Are this site's rules identical to every formal tournament?
Piece movement, checkmate, and stalemate match Chinese and Asian rules. The site automates loops under Asian rules: a sole perpetual attacker loses, while mutual attacks or a quiet move produce a draw. Chinese tournament adjudication may treat some chases and pending cases differently.
Sources and review scope
The movement, check, reply, checkmate, and stalemate rules correspond to Articles 1–4 of the Chinese Xiangqi Association's 2020 competition rules. Repetition follows Asian rules as described above. The sixty-move and insufficient-attacking-material draws are enforced automatically by this site.
Content review: Piece movement was checked against this site's legal-move generator, and the ending rules against its current adjudication logic. Last reviewed: .
Practice the rules on the AI board at a lower strength, then continue to the xiangqi strategy guide for opening coordination, tactical calculation, and practical decision-making.
